UPDATE: April 20: NEW SURVEY IS OPEN After reviewing the responses from the previous version of the survey, we closed it because there was a large amount of doubt about the veracity of some of the answers provided. The largest … Read More
Heather Griffith Peterson has resigned from her job as chief operating officer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Texas Health and Human Services Yoiks, here we are again.By Marissa Evans, The Texas Tribune April 18, 2018 The state … Read More
Charles Smith of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services testifies Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, to the House Committees on Human Services and Public Health at the Capitol. Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune. Texas HHS still hasn’t learned … Read More
TDMR has been asked several times recently if we have any knowledge of an upcoming RFP (request for proposals) for dental management organizations. There have been rumors flying around for well over a year now that Texas Health and Human Services … Read More
TDMR has been asked to inform its readers that a new association of dentists is in the process of being formed. The new association is to be called the United States Dental Association. Among the founding members of the new organization … Read More
Yes, we know it is 2018. Sorry. But the truth about the late great Texas Medicaid orthodontic debacle (2007 to 2011) has been not fully been made public yet. So here is some more truth for those who were involved … Read More
Two days ago, the iconic and troubled American corporation Xerox was sold to Japan’s Fujifilm for $6.3 billion dollars, ending its solo history in this country. Losing money, under pressure The new company will be known as Fuji Xerox and, … Read More
In January of last year, Dr. Juan Villarreal’s long-awaited book “Truth Decay: How Government Corruption Caused a Political Scandal Victimizing Texas Dentists and How It Could Happen to You!” was released on Amazon.com. “Truth Decay” details Dr. Villarreal’s personal struggles … Read More
Recently the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General issued a report A-17-17-52000- U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MET MANY REQUIREMENTS OF THE IMPROPER PAYMENTS INFORMATION ACT OF 2002 BUT DID NOT FULLY COMPLY FOR FISCAL YEAR … Read More
UPDATED: The federal government has come through with temporary funding for Texas. It won’t be a bad Christmas after all. There hasn’t been much big news regarding Texas Medicaid recently, but here is a doozy. The Dallas Morning News reminded … Read More
UPDATE: After conferring with colleagues, this is not the major reimbursement changes that were discussed earlier this year but an annual update of codes with minor changes. Hope you are having a nice Friday afternoon, the Friday before the Christmas … Read More
UPDATE: Arguments in this case were heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 6. The 39-minute video of the oral arguments is here. The court’s decision is not expected until spring of next year. As a heads up for dentists … Read More
TDMR is releasing the results of its 2017 Medicaid Provider survey today. Not much has changed Not much has apparently changed for Medicaid providers from 2016. per the 337 individuals who answered our anonymous, 6 question survey in October and … Read More
By TDMR President Gregory Ewing On September 7, 2017, Equifax, one of the nation’s three credit-reporting companies reported that it had discovered a cybersecurity breach that compromised the personal information of as many as 143 million Americans, roughly half of … Read More
Insurance coverage for more than 390,000 Texas children and pregnant women is in jeopardy after Congress failed to renew authorization for a federal program. Congressional authorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides low-cost health insurance for children from … Read More
According to a story in today’s Texas Tribune, a large number of experienced executive staff of Texas Health and Human Services have exited the mega-agency due to conflicts with current Executive Commissioner Charles Smith. So far, these include, according to the … Read More
Today, the Texas Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments from orthodontic providers regarding the dentists’ counterclaims in the pending State vs. dentists vs. TMHP/Xerox cases. The general facts of the underlying dispute about orthodontic prior authorization have been well-covered … Read More
UPDATE: September 1, HHS announced this morning that it has put on hold the proposed rate changes per legislative sources. Original story: August 1, 2017 TDMR has received a copy of an email from the Texas Academy of Pediatric Dentistry … Read More
On August 9, the House Committee on Human Services held a public hearing. Part of the agenda was to hear testimony relating to the proposed dental Medicaid reimbursement rate cuts for many necessary codes that have been called “devastating” by … Read More
From the Texas Dental Association: ATTENTION TDA MEMBER MEDICAID DENTISTS: CALL TO ACTION Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) is moving forward with a devastating proposal that will significantly cut certain Medicaid dental reimbursement rates. The proposed cuts include dental codes that … Read More
